CS:GO DreamHack Masters Stockholm Preview

23 August 2018 14:38

The first ever flagship DreamHack tournament to be held in Stockholm, Sweden, sees 16 of the world’s finest CS:GO teams compete for a share of the $250,000 prize pool. The five-day Masters event begins on Wednesday 29th August at the Ericsson Globe, so who will be crowned champions and hold the trophy aloft?

What Is The Format?

The three-day group stage sees the 16 teams split into four double-elimination groups. The opening matches are best-of-one, leading onto best-of-three Winners’, Elimination and Decider matches. The top two teams from each group go through to the play-offs. The play-offs, held over two days, are a single-elimination bracket and all matches are best-of-three.

The Teams

The participating CS:GO teams have been drawn into the following groups:

Group A

Astralis

Nort

TyLoo

Grayhound Gamin

Group B

Natus Vincere

Ninjas in Pyjamas

NRG Esports

Ghost Gaming

Group C

FaZe Clan

Fnatic

OpTic Gaming

Heroic

Group D

MIBR

mousesports

HellRaisers

Gambit Esports

OpTic Gaming, HellRaisers and Heroic came through European qualifiers to reach Stockholm, whilst Ghost Gaming, TyLoo and Grayhound Gaming will take their places after progressing from their respective North American, Chinese and Asian qualifiers. The remaining ten teams all received direct invitations.

HLTV Most Valuable Player Odds

Astralis’ Nicolai "dev1ce" Reedtz is the pre-tournament favourite to be crowned HLTV MVP (Most Valuable Player). The 22-year-old Danish AWPer has enjoyed a stellar 2018 so far, helping his team triumph in four tournaments including DreamHack Masters Marseille 2018 and the ELEAGUE CS:GO Premier 2018.

The Danish team kick off their campaign against unfancied outsiders Grayhound Gaming and, whilst their fans will be expecting a dominant performance, the pressure will be on one of the star attractions to deliver an assured and accomplished performance right from the off. It’ll be intriguing for those in attendance to see whether "dev1ce" can live up to his billing on one of the world’s biggest stages.

Elsewhere, Natus Vincere’s Oleksandr "s1mple" Kostyliev is another contender worth keeping an eye on as the action unfolds. He’s been with Natus since August 2016 and, in that time, has established himself as one of the most impressive players around.

"s1mple" has played a key role in helping his team win three of their four CS:GO tournaments this year and, despite a 3rd/4th place finish in July’s ELEAGUE CS:GO Premier 2018, Natus Vincere will be hoping to go all the way this time round.

Intel Grand Slam Also On The Line

Whilst the competing sides will rightly be focused on holding the DreamHack Masters trophy aloft, seven of the 16 teams are also gunning for the Intel Grand Slam, and have a real chance of making progress if they can secure a string of victories in Sweden.

The Intel Grand Slam will award $1 million in prize money to the first side that wins four premier events organised by DreamHack Masters or ESL. Winning the four tournaments must happen in any given period spanning ten competitions.

FaZe Clan currently lead the way with three wins, triumphing at ESL One: New York 2017, Intel Extreme Masters XIII – Sydney, and ESL One: Belo Horizonte 2018. However, the Masters in Sweden represents the last chance for FaZe to compete in the Intel Grand Slam. Their overall number of wins will be reset to zero if they fail to win.

Astralis are only one tournament victory behind, with five remaining chances, whilst Natus Vincere and Fnatic will be eager to double their overall tally to two tournament wins sooner rather than later. They have nine and five remaining chances each. MIBR, Ninjas in Pyjamas and Grayhound Gaming are the other three teams chasing the Grand Slam.

Good luck to all competing teams, and remember to let us know on Facebook and Twitter who you think will take home the majority of the $250,000 up for grabs.